There's no way to probe for an available name - just try for what you want. If you type an available name (and Save), your blog will have that name, immediately - and your current name will become available.

You will need a stub blog, though - so why not start with setting up the stub blog, before you rename your blog?

Make a new stub blog, picking the best name available.

Alert your readers that you will be changing the name.

When convenient, swap URLs between the stub blog and your current blog.

Comments

I plan on renaming/relaunching my blog as soon as possible. I have been reading as many of your posts as possible to try and educate myself on what to do, I think I've got it, but I'm really unsure about something.When I click the 'x' and remove my custom domain (bought through blogger 3 years ago) what happens to it? It won't expire until 2016 now so will it still be alive, just not attached to a site? Because I would very much like to set up a redirect on that domain to forward to my new domain. So I lose as few readers as possible. I was hoping to click 'x' and then quickly create the new domain (it's available) via blogger so that both new and old domains are on the same GoDaddy username. Is that possible? Or should I buy the new domain and set it up manually once I have removed my old domain?

Sorry, I realise that is actually a few questions! but any advice is very much welcome.

Renaming a custom domain published blog takes slightly more planning.1. Purchase the new domain.2. Setup the new domain, with proper DNS addresses.3. Give the new domain time to stabilise.4. Click on the "X", and publish the blog back to BlogSpot.5. If you are changing the BlogSpot URL also, THIS is when you swap URLs with a stub blog.6. Publish the blog to the new domain.7. Get the blog, published to the new domain, working.8. Re direct the old domain, to the new domain published URL.9. Publicise the new domain.

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Popular Posts identifies from 1 to 10 of the most popular posts in the blog, by comparing Stats pageview counts. Optional parts of the display of each post are a snippet of text, and an ever popular thumbnail photo.

Like many Stats features, blog owners have found imaginative uses for "Popular Posts" - and overlook the limitations of the gadget. Both the dynamic nature of Stats, and the timing of the various pageview count recalculations, create confusion, when Popular Posts is examined.

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